Illinois Needs to get Wise to Gentry Liberalism - Avoid the California Rush to Ruin

Back in 2007 Joel Kotkin and Fred Siegel coined the phrase Gentry Liberalism. The Main Stream Media has avoided this term; this condition that afflicts America.

Gentry Liberalism -Today's ascendant liberalism has a much different agenda. Call it "gentry liberalism." It's not driven by the lunch-pail concerns of those workers struggling to make it in an increasingly high-tech, information-based, outsourcing U.S. economy -- though it does pay lip service to them.

Rather, gentry liberalism reflects the interests and values of the affluent winners in the era of globalization and the beneficiaries of the "financialization" of the economy. Its strongholds are the tony neighborhoods and luxurious suburbs in and around New York, Washington, Boston, San Francisco and West Los Angeles.

These are folks who have nothing to lose - jobs, income, health. Needless to say they feel great - about themselves, but the rest of us? Not so hot. We tend to be fatter, have many more children, remain married, cling to religion
, work and pay taxes. We are Helots and they are Progressive Olympians - not the athletes the folks on that big hill in Greece.

Gentry Liberalism loves Advocacy Politics ( Gay, Black, Hispanic ( whatever the Hell that is), Abortion Happy/Women & etc.) and Marxist PACS SEIU/ACORN & etc. You know - like every time Ralph Martire opens his yap? More taxes.

Gentry Liberalism means Taxes for Helots.

Illinois needs to get wise to Gentry Liberalism - Progressive Political Olympians.

We can start by getting wise to Kotkin and Seigel. Click my post title.

Obama's problems stem primarily from gentry liberalism's class contradictions. Focused on ultra-affluent greens, the media, Wall Street and the public sector, gentry liberalism generally gives short shrift to upward mobility, the basic aspiration of the middle class.

Scott Brown's shocking victory in Massachusetts--like earlier GOP triumphs in Virginia and New Jersey--can be explained best by class. Analysis by demographer Wendell Cox, among others, shows that Brown won his margin in largely middle- and working-class suburbs, where many backed Obama in 2008. He lost by almost 2-to-1 among poor voters and also among those earning over $85,000 a year. He also won a slight margin among union members--remarkable given the lockstep support of their organizations for Brown's Democratic opponent, Martha Coakley.

Geography played a role, of course, but class proved the divider. Coakley did well in the wealthiest suburbs largely north and northwest of Boston. But Brown's edge in the more middle- and working-class suburbs proved insurmountable.

Terry O'Brien: Cook County's Only Tax-cutter and Toni Preckwinkle: Stroger Without the Laughs

Jim Bowman, legendary Chicago Religion writer and newsman cuts through the Chicago Tribune's idiotic slight of Terry O'Brien for Cook County Board President.

Jim Bowman and most voters know that Terry O'Brien has been and continues to be the only Cook County Tax-Saver.

Toni Preckwinkle is the genius who slammed the late Saul Bellow ( Nobel Prize for Literature) as a racist. It's funny, I met two young women who were students of the humorless and not-all-that-bright Preckwinkle at Visitation High School who transfered to another school as the direct result of Ms. Preckwinkle's race-baiting classes. Could be. Hearsay, I suppose. I tend to agree with the two women, having met and listened to Alderman Preckwinkle on many occasions. Not a huge deal in the great scheme of things.

What is a huge deal is that Alderman Preckwinkle is a tax gouger and that is public record. Jim Bowman goes right at the issue:

"Has Trib been fooling us all this time?
O’Brien, polling behind Madame P. the alderwoman, who has run nothing bigger than a ward office in her whole life, has run an ad exposing her tax-raising history. In her book it’s a “desperate attack” of the sort “some candidates make when they’re behind a lot.”
Not that O’B has it wrong. She denies it not, namely her votes “to raise her salary in 1995, 1998, 2002 and 2006 (from $55,000 to $98,000, cumulatively) . . . to create a real estate transfer tax (1992), boost the sales tax on beer and wine (1993), raise the overall sales tax (2004) and raise the real-estate transfer tax (2008).”
Unable to deny it, she mounts a desperate counter-attack of the sort some candidates make when they are caught doing what voters most resent in the record of the despised and last-in-the-polls incumbent (Stroger).
Why wouldn’t Chi Trib have endorsed O’Brien, who has said from the start of his campaign that he would get rid of the penny increase right away, while Preckwinkle said not right away, she would have to think about it." (Click my post title and read more for Jim Bowman).

Why yes, yes they have, Brother Bowman.

Talk Leo! Talk Chicago! Talk Catholic League Sports - Call in to "Skinny and Houli" Avenue 950 AM Radio Tonight!

Pop Schumacher - " I think Hickey went to Little Flower High School. What's that mope know about Leo High School?For Crissakes."

Ma Schumacher - " You. You got thrown out of Leo your first day there; so what's it to you anyway? Hickey seems a nice boy- a bit slow, but nice. Lord save us! I married a mean Dutchman from Roseland, much good it did me."

Buck Schumacher - " Dad, Houli was a football great at Mount Carmel in the 1960's wasn't he?"

Pop Schumacher - "Come on, Son, Houli couldn't carry Leo's Brian Tansey's jock-strap."

Ma Schumacher -" Listen to him. You we're a Hall snitch at Fenger for four years and robbed freight cars in Hegewisch for mad money- I dated Leo Men and they were at least gentlemen."

Pop Schumacher - "Yeah, but you married me."

Maeve Schumacher- "Stop fighting! We can't hear - I think Skinny Sheahan is dreamy."

Mert Schumacher -" I do too, Let's call in and ask Skinny to sing "Nice 'N Easy!"

Buck Schumacher - "He's got pipes."

Chatty Bill Schumacher - "Uh huh."

Pop Schumacher - "Pipe down, the lot of you. I can't hear my thoughts make change. Now, Quiet!"




Avenue 950 AM Radio.
"Skinny and Houli Show" brings radio back to life with their distinctly Chicago Voices talking about the great people who make a postive difference in this great City and its suburbs.
Call in and join the fun. The "Skinny and Houli Show phone lines can be reached at 312-329-0950.

Waiting for Hickey on the "Skinny and Houli Show "- Wednesday January 27 from 6-8PM. Be There, Hickey Should be, If He Gets Started Out Now.

Wow , Live Radio to talk about Leo and the Leo Alumni! Now let's see - 514 Fairbanks Court , nope - a-dope! That's 541 N. Fairbanks Court 12th Floor .. .. Okay, I'm near North Pier Terminal . . .Dick's Last Resort! No, you may not! No stopping, got to get to Skinny and Houli's Show at Avenue 950. Tater Skins at Dick's Last Resort . . .no Press on! Skinny and Houli are counting on me . . .or at least expecting me. Don't get distracted, like you did during the Byrne Administration. That was something! If I can only remember, the name of that Fireman.

Meanwhile: At Avenue 950 AM -

Houli, - "Skinny, don't get up. Hickey must be on his way unless he got himself distracted again. He's talking about Leo so maybe he will be a liitle more focused. "

Skinny - "We should have sent a Limo - or a fat kid's Schwinn to make sure the goof get's here on time."

Houli - "What are you reading?"

Skinny - "Kant!"

Houli - "Hey, I was just asking!"

Skinny " Immanuel Kant - Jesus, Kritik der Urteilskraft They taught it at Quigley - I am sure it was required reading at Mount Carmel, as well."

Houli -"What was it, again?"

Skinny -"Kritik der Urteilskraft"

Houli - "I only took two years of Latin."

Skinny - " Indeed."

(Wildly pregnant pause - a score or two of seconds)



Houli - " Cocktails?"

Skinny - "Too close to Lent, I think not."


The Skinny & Houli Show, in partnership with Special Olympics Chicago, will feature guests who are making a positive impact on the lives of Chicagoans plus a "Special Olympics Spotlight" on an athlete, coach or volunteer for outstanding achievement.

Tune in to Avenue 950 and hear a show that will make you proud to live in Chicago.

Tune In!
This Wed. Night, 6-8PM. 950 AM
Call-in during the show, light up our phone lines: 312-329-0950.

Pat Hickey on "Skinny and Houli Show" Wednesday 6-8P.M. Avenue 950 AM Radio - Timelessly Cool

I will be joining my pals Jim Sheahan and Mike Houlihan on the "Skinny and Houli Show" tomorrow night on Avenue 950 AM Radio.

"Skinny and Houli Show" brings radio back to life with their distinctly Chicago Voices talking about people who make positive differences in this great City and its suburbs.

I will talk about the people who support Leo High School and provide a quality Catholic college preparatory high school education for young men from Chicago's toughest and most under served neighborhoods. The Leo Alumni Association represents the thousands of men who formed their lives at 7901 S. Sangamon Street and continue to financially, spiritually and socially support the young men of Leo.

Here's but a very few
* Frank Considine: Retired CEO of National American Can Co.

* Thomas Fitzgerald: Justice, Illinois Supreme Court.

* Bill Koloseike - CEO -Bill Kay Chrysler

* Dick Landis - CEO of Landis Plastics

* Michael Thompson - CEO Fair Oaks Farm Food, Inc.

* Donald Flynn: Member, board of directors, Waste Management Inc.

* Bishop John Gorman: Former president, St. Mary of the Lake.

* Jim Hallberg: President, Insure One.

* Jason Jefferson: NFL player, Buffalo Bills.

* Edward Joyce: President, Chicago Options Exchange.

* James T. Joyce: Former Chicago fire commissioner.

* Ed Koloseike: CEO, Bill Kay Chrysler & Dodge.

* Dan McGrath: Sports writer and editor, Chicago News Coop - New York Times.

* Andrew McKenna: President and CEO, Schwarz Paper Co.; former chairman of the board of the Cubs, Sox; board of directors, Chicago Bears.

* Lt. Gen. George Muellner, USAF: Retired president of Boeing Corporation's Strategic Defense Systems Division & Phantom Works.

* Tom Owens: Chairman of the board, XL Datacom.

* Dr. William Payne: Photonic Switching Architectural Group, Bell Laboratories.

* Joseph Power: Partner, Power, Rogers & Smith.

* Robert Sheehy: President, Sheehy & Sons Funeral Home.


Call in and join the fun. The "Skinny and Houli Show phone lines can be reached at 312-329-0950.

A couple of Chicago rascals are debuting their highly anticipated radio program through Avenue 950 Timeless Cool, a product of Sovereign City Radio Services, called The Skinny & Houli Show, on Wednesday nights from 6-8PM beginning January 20.

Mr. Skinny Sheahan and company!
James "Skinny" Sheahan, former Director of the Mayor's Office of Special Events and Mike "Houli" Houlihan, columnist for the Irish American News and former features columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, introduce listeners to the quirky characters and stories that give our city its unique charm.

This two hour, freewheeling talk radio dialogue features two of Chicago's most irrepressible personalities, discussing what's happening in the city each week. The hosts will dissect the news, politics, sports, and entertainment scene with their trademark wit and introduce a variety of community activists and neighborhood heroes.

The Skinny & Houli Show, in partnership with Special Olympics Chicago, will feature guests who are making a positive impact on the lives of Chicagoans plus a "Special Olympics Spotlight" on an athlete, coach or volunteer for outstanding achievement.

Tune in to Avenue 950 and hear a show that will make you proud to live in Chicago.

Tune In!
This Wed. Night, 6-8PM. 950 AM
Call-in during the show, light up our phone lines: 312-329-0950.

The Avenue950 is heard every evening from 6pm to 5am in Chicago on WNTD 950 AM. Established in 1922, 950 AM is one of Chicago's oldest stations. Everything old is new again as many of those same artists join contemporary artists to form Chicago’s new format that we call "The Avenue". The Avenue950 is heard every evening from 6pm to 5am in Chicago on WNTD 950 AM.

Established in 1922, 950 AM is one of Chicago’s oldest stations. Over the decades, the greats of Jazz became a part of the station’s heritage. Everything old is new again as many of those same artists join contemporary artists to form Chicago’s new format that we call "The Avenue".

The Avenue is a multi-genre mix featuring a balanced blend of classic and contemporary cool that you won’t hear anywhere else. Period. We call it “Timeless Cool”. Its music that matters presented in a way that radio has never tried before. It’s easy to listen to, but NOT easy listening. It’s classic. Its current. It’s timeless cool for a timelessly cool city.

Men's Fall Fashion - What is Offered and What We Will Wear!

The Devil wears Prada, because Old Nick has no twin saddle bags of superfluous flesh cascading at his back pockets, and suffers not from DunLop's Disease*! Theologically, Old Scratch looks "Faaaabulous!" - trim and fastidiously turned out and ready to cut some of the weak ones out of the Herd! No Wingman, He! Silks and Satins and Satan's own good time!

The rest of us gents? Me anyway - Armani would be a suicide pilot to attempt to gussy up this Old Roue.

The fashion folks have slapped together Man Hugging items and accessories that will be worn publicly by Victims: of ridicule;assault; uncontrolled laughter and closet space.

Heather Kenny at(Some)Chicago Reader makes a heroic case for Burbury Pirates and Versace Vampires.

Men's fashion is rarely as dramatic as the women's shows because men's clothing doesn't change as much from year to year. On the other hand, small touches can have big effect (which makes it easy to do a makeover on your boyfriend).

As If, Heather! Girls! Round up a gelding!


Two of the selections for Man 2010 Fall Collection are provided above: sinister and dextra- the gent in media res is wearing pretty much standard issue American Middle Age Male Mufti.

I find the buckishly grey gentleman, (conservative yes, but defiantly dashing in a blue blazer/Open Collar Oxford cloth button-down with manly white crew t-shirt apparent) to be eminently attractive. Ladies? N'cest Pas?


* dunlop's disease

When your belly Dun Lops Over Your Belt.

Hey, when Murph looks at a Menu he says, " Okay!"

Dan Proft is the Only Real Republican and True Reformer of ANY Party !

Dan, I had neighbors to vote for in the Democratic Primary. I voted for Terry O'Brien, Joe Berrios and Maureen Kelly - for and against everyone else. tossed in some citizen devilment on the races, I did. Because I voted early and could not draw a Republican Ballot, could not place my vote for you. I am not Big Ed Schultz. Get it done, Dan!

Proft on GOP ticket

With seven Republicans on the ballot for governor, few people know all their names much less what differentiates them.

For us, candidate Dan Proft stands out from the pack. All seven candidates -- actually six now after one dropped out last week -- oppose a tax increase and want more accountability in government. But Proft is the only candidate pushing for dramatic, top-to-bottom change in the way the state does business.

As Proft is fond of saying, he wants to turn Springfield upside down.

So do we, and we support him in the Feb. 2 Republican primary.

The people in power during the past decade, Democrats and Republicans, have failed to provide fiscally responsible leadership or adequately promote private sector job growth. In addition to a state deficit of close to $11 billion, Illinois had an unemployment rate of 11.1 percent in December, with 733,300 people out of work. Our state is near the bottom of all states in education, government ethics and business climate.

Proft offers many bold ideas. He not only wants to hold the line on taxes but cut them to encourage investment and job creation. He favors school choice for low- and moderate-income students in failing schools. He proposes statutory caps on state spending.

Proft has not previously held office, but he has helped run campaigns and is a keen observer of state government. His outsider perspective would serve him well as the governor in charge of change.

Catholic Satire - We Have Long Road Back; We're Getting There.

Hat tip to The Black Biretta

SCOTUS Ruling on Campaign Cash - Prometheus Unbound!

Last week's Supreme Court Ruling allowing corporations and Unions to side-step 527 -Groups like the Swift Boaters and others has the Birkenstock-Soul Patch and Academic Think Tankers running in circles like a dog with three legs.

Calm down Cupcakes. It will be Okay. Not that such admonitions ever lessen the pace of the earnest hearts pounding in those Saltine-thin chests.

Campaign Reform is always an after thought, like locking the doors of the house after second-story engineers looted the place while Dexter and Tanya and the kids were on vacation at the Sun dance Film Festival.

In Greek mythology a set of twin Titans Prometheus and Epimetheus represented forethought and afterthought. James Baldwin retells the tale for all of us Helots:

In those old, old times, there lived two brothers who were not like other men, nor yet like those Mighty Ones who lived upon the mountain top. They were the sons of one of those Titans who had fought against Jupiter and been sent in chains to the strong prison-house of the Lower World. name of the elder of these brothers was Prometheus, or Forethought; for he was always thinking of the future and making things ready for what might happen to-morrow, or next week, or next year, or it may be in a hundred years to come. The younger was called Epimetheus, or Afterthought; for he was always so busy thinking of yesterday, or last year, or a hundred years ago, that he had no care at all for what might come to pass after a while For some cause Jupiter had not sent these brothers to prison with the rest of the Titans.

Prometheus did not care to live amid the clouds on the mountain top. He was too busy for that. While the Mighty Folk were spending their time in idleness, drinking nectar and eating ambrosia, he was intent upon plans for making the world wiser and better than it had ever been before.

He went out amongst men to live with them and help them; for his heart was filled with sadness when he found that they were no longer happy as they had been during the golden days when Saturn was king. Ah, how very poor and wretched they were! He found them living in caves and in holes of the earth, shivering with the cold because there was no fire, dying of starvation, hunted by wild beasts and by one another–the most miserable of all living creatures.“If they only had fire,” said Prometheus to himself, “they could at least warm themselves and cook their food; and after a while they could learn to make tools and build themselves houses. Without fire, they are worse off than the beasts.”

Then he went boldly to Jupiter and begged him to give fire to men, that so they might have a little comfort through the long, dreary months of winter.

“Not a spark will I give,” said Jupiter. “No, indeed! Why,if men had fire they might become strong and wise like ourselves, and after a while they would drive us out of our kingdom. Let them shiver with cold, and let them live like the beasts. It is best for them to be poor and ignorant, that so we Mighty Ones may thrive and be happy."

(Emphasis my own.)

The Progressive Olympians need to shout down orders to the Helots - Rubes, Tea Party-go-ers, Regular Democrats, Republicans that can't afford to join the country club, folks who eat lettuce and not Arugula - you know Rubes - clinging religious gun loving Rubes.

Read some more from James Baldwin or in the original works of Hesiod. My students at Bishop Mac in Kankakee and at La Lumiere School ( Alma Mater of Chief Justice John Roberts) in LaPorte, IN were introduced to Prometheus and his daffy Bro.

It always seems to me that Progressives and Goo-goos are the New Olympians - Jupiter's In-Crowd and they take orders for the top.

If you are like Epimetheus and live by "afterthought" and lock step political principles then everything is Jake, Swell, Hunkey-Dorey. Epimetheus did Okay because he pretty much did nothing - that's the idea.

If, like Prometheus, you live by "forethought" common sense and devote yourself to independence and Liberty - then you get your ass chained to the Carpathian Rocks for eternity and have vultures snack on your livers.

The Supreme Court stood up for Forethought, Common Sense, Free Speech and Liberty and it won't be too bad. even the smart guys at Politico.com say so. Check this out:

But the reality is likely to be something more modest, mainly a shifting of cash that’s already in the system away from so-called 527 groups.

In the past decade, corporations have actually been trying to get out of the business of big political giving. They sided with reform advocates when the McCain-Feingold law was first challenged in 2003 and testified on behalf of its ban on unlimited corporate giving to the political parties, which were dubbed “soft money” donations.

The reasons for this reluctance were complex. Some executives hated the way politicians always had their hands out, making appeals that were difficult to turn down for fear of retribution in the legislative process. Others didn’t like the lack of control they had over how their money was spent.

The court ruling would give corporate officials that control, but many of them may decide — especially those in publicly held companies — to keep the cash for their real business needs.

Running attack ads against political targets would create real risks of alienating customers and shareholders. And, given voters’ sentiments toward corporations today, most politicians would probably not welcome a glowing ad campaign on their behalf that was funded by Big Business.

Most CEOs will avoid the whole question by simply sticking with their traditional — and safe — government relations package of lobbying and limited giving through the in-house political action committee, experts said.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31878.html#ixzz0dXWzQVIU

Prometheus was the Titan of Forethought and it was tough to be Prometheus. It is tough to be an American citizen - it is supposed to be!

Our Populist President: Lonesome Barry Joad in The Grapes (of) Waffles

In a diner/sits a miner
and our Presidential Whiner . . .(To Darling Clementine)

President Obama (sota voce) - to no one in partic'lar -just talkin' - just sayin'!

Takes no nerve to do something, ain't nothin' else you can do.

Sure don't look none too prosperous.

Seems like the government's got more interest in a dead man than a live one.

If there was a law, they was workin' with maybe we could take it, but it ain't the law. They're workin' away our spirits, tryin' to make us cringe and crawl, takin' away our decency.

That Rahm. He might have been a preacher but he seen things clear. He was like a lantern. He helped me to see things clear.

I been thinking about us, too, about our people living like pigs and good rich land layin' fallow. Or maybe one guy with a million acres and a hundred thousand farmers starvin'. And I been wonderin' if all our folks got together and yelled... Fox'd really get me then, I expect.

They'd drag me anyways. Sooner or later they'd get me for one thing if not for another. Until then...

That ain't it. It's just, well as long as I'm an outlaw anyways... maybe I can do somethin'... maybe I can just find out somethin', just scrounge around and maybe find out what it is that's wrong and see if they ain't somethin' that can be done about it. I ain't thought it out all clear, I can't. I don't know enough.


Then it don't matter. I'll be all around in the dark - I'll be everywhere. Wherever you can look - wherever there's a fight, so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever there's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there. I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad. I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry and they know supper's ready, and when the people are eatin' the stuff they raise and livin' in the houses they build - I'll be there, too.

But - just somethin' I been thinkin' about. . . . Why can't I just eat my waffle?

Profound apologies to John Steinbeck, John Ford, Henry Fonda, Ma, and Mrs. Butterworth.

Leo Alumni Boost Leo Win Over Crusaders

Leo Alumni pump several hundred thousand dollars into financial assistance that helps the current 'brawny stalwarts' get a quality Catholic college prep education.

The Leo Alumni are largely middle aged white Catholic guys from the parishes and Leo students are black kids from the neighborhoods of Gresham, Auburn, Grand Crossing, Chatham, Brainerd, and Englewood - most are non-Catholic.

Tough guys give back.

Last night Leo played two very tough sophomore and varsity Brother Rice basketball teams. Both games were squeakers - by 4 points. The Varsity behind Paul Beene, Issac "Too Much Science" Smith and my pal Malcolm McFarland managed to get by a tough disciplined and graceful Brother Rice Squad 76-72.

Paul Beene, Malcolm McFarland and Isaac Smith III keyed the Lions (12-6, 5-3) victory. Smith opened the overtime with a layup to give the Leo the lead it would never relinquish. McFarland followed that with a spinning layup and Beene connected on three of four free throws to put the Lions ahead 66-59 with 1:29 left in overtime. Rice (11-5, 5-3) committed four turnovers in that same time frame.

Beene held the hot hand all game and led the Lions with 26 points including 8 of 10 from the free throw line in overtime. McFarland added 16 and Smith contributed 14.

The Lady Who Holds My Heart accompanied me to Leo High School's storied gym and witnessed real life played out on the same hard-wood floors that formed the character of Illinois State Senator Ed Maloney, Legendary Sports Journalist Dan McGrath, Insurance Man Frank McDermott, NIU Coach and Toronto Raptor Star Donnie Whiteside, Bro Farrell,Jackie Schaller, Bill and Jack Hessian, Bob Kozlowski, Ray Topps, Jerry Schimtt, Chico Driscoll, Harry Valadex, Bobby Lake, Tom O'Malley and the legendary Jack Fitzgerald.

Alumni President Rich Furlong along with Larry Lynch, Gene Earner, John Gardiner, Dave Cheval and the ever present Frank McDermott herded more than one hundred Alumni Association members to cheer on the Young Lions. There always Alumni at Leo Games, but this crowd was especially animated to meet the challenging squads of Pat Richardson's Crusaders ( Rice and Leo, along with St. Lawrence in Burbank were directed by the Irish Christian Brothers).

The Old Lions have teeth that gnaw into savings and checking accounts to make sure that our young Leo Lions bite hard.

They do.

God Bless All Leo Men.

My beautiful, elegant and delicate Love of My Life judged "They are all such gentlemen."

Tough guys always seem to be just that.

Stan Obama and Oliver Axelrod "A Bit of a Buzzsaw, Ollie!"

Obama said, "folks in Washington are in a little bit of a frenzy" over Republican Scott Brown's election to the seat held by the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, which has ended the president's 60-seat supermajority in the chamber. But the president vowed to keep battling for health care reform, even as he bluntly conceded that he's facing major roadblocks.

"Now, we've gotten pretty far down the road, but I have to admit, we've run into a bit of a buzzsaw along the way," Obama said. "The long process of getting things done runs headlong into the special interests, their armies of lobbyists and partisan politics aimed at exploiting fears instead of getting things done."

Another, in a very long string of Fines Messes, Stanley! MMM; MMM; Mmm!

Arlen Specter Gives Rep. Michele Bachmann an Old Timey Beeotch! Beatdown

Now, Ms. Bachmann* - pay attention to me, Arlen Specter, 32nd Degree Knight of Columbus and U.S. Marshall Reserves. Young Lady, here's a few words of wisdom from a Man who crossed the aisle and crossed swords with John McCain in the U.S. Senate Gents - before they put in those girly self-contained urinal buckets!

Be Like Pa,

Not Like Sis

Lift the Lid,

When You Gotta Relieve Yourself !


My God Ms. Bachmann this is . . .19. . .19. . . is Thursday! Why only yesterday, I was telling Barry Goldwater, "Barry, Act like a Jew, for Christ's Sake!" Now, politics is all velocinators and hippomobiles. Senator Goldwater's favorite dysphemism was to ask for axle grease when he wanted butter. Am I making my self clear? Actually, that's the diuretic. Watch out now! Woah, Big Fella!!!! Goin' like firehose with no fireman!"

*

The exchange, broadcast on 1210 AM's Dom Giordano Show [but not archived on the station's site], began when Specter challenged Bachmann to articulate what, exactly, she stands for, according to a readout on the clash published by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's lively Early Returns blog.

Bachmann first laid out her agenda -- cutting taxes and killing President Obama's health reform bill -- at considerable length.

When Specter tried to counter, Bachmann, darling of the Tea Party movement, kept on talking, which didn't sit well with the one-time Philadelphia DA, who is a stickler for politeness and protocol.

"I'm going to treat you like a lady," Mr. Specter shot back. "Now act like one."

Ms. Bachmann replied, "I am a lady."

Things went on along this line for a while -- with Specter later asking Bachmann to "act like a lady," according to the PPG's Daniel Malloy.

Bachmann is hardly a beloved figure in Democratic circles. But how many liberal women, whom Specter badly needs to defeat front-running Paul Toomey, would appreciate being told to "act like a lady" by a male debate partner?

Medill's Mike Madigan Fishing Expedition - Asian Carp Not Good Enough?

The Tribune expends time, talent and treasure on targets.

They had four full-time 'investigators' on Mike Sheahan for years and coughed up a twenty minute toss of their work by a jury empanelled to make hay for the MacArthur Center for Justice in a BS - lawyer incited brutality beef at Cook County Jail.

Mike Madigan is "the target for Tonight!" Nice try, Cupcakes.

Mike Madigan sends more brain cells into the waters treated
by the Metro Water Reclamation District every day than the collective Intelligence of the entire Medill Scam Co-op can ever hope to Dream of possessing. ( Trib & etc.).

Mike Madigan is smart and smart requires a close attention to details - ethical, moral and legal.

As to the Tribune's latest BS Investigation - does not seem to be any There -there.

The Trib should toss the Cliff's Notes and read some books.

Public Schools are Closing for Underperformance -Hey, Buck Up! Big Shoulders Fund will Help! Send Your Kids To Catholic Schools

Chicago Teachers Union president Marilyn Stewart noted that two of the schools to undergo "turnaround" — Deneen Elementary and Gillespie Elementary — were just beginning a reform that linked teacher pay to student performance. Indeed, many have undergone past reforms. And the principal at Montefiore school, which is to receive students from the closing Las Casas Occupational High School, said she had not been told of any such transfers.

Today's Chicago Tribune:http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/ct-met-0120-cps-school-closing-20100119,0,3559514.story



CTU's Marilyn Stewart 'has a smile that lights a room' - the Chicago Media used that fine thoughtful assessment on Under performing U.S. Senator Carol Mosely Braun. Remember? Well, all that "reform" exhausted millions of more tax-dollars and still the CPS school "under perform."

The Smile that Lights a Room Stewart pushed to unionize Ellison Charter School on the campus of Little Flower Catholic Church last year. Marilyn Stewart smiles and Chicago Public Education tanks deeper into the loam.

If you really care about your child's education, really, really, really care, send your child to Catholic Schools. It ain't free, but Catholic Schools do not "under perform" and save Illinois tax-payers billions of dollars.

Parents make a commitment for the education that they want for their children and many people will help them meet that commitment

Big Shoulders Fund has been helping Chicago inner city parents get their children a proper education.

The mission of the Big Shoulders Fund is to provide support to the Catholic schools in the neediest areas of inner-city Chicago. 100% of the funds raised by the Big Shoulders Fund are used to support children through scholarships, special education programs, instructional equipment, much needed school facility improvements, faculty support, and operating grants. The Big Shoulders Fund is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

Click my post title and learn more!

Your children will receive a Catholic Education - based on positive moral, ethical, civic and vocational values.

Catholic Schools Superintendent Sr. Mary Paul McCaughey welcomes Chicago's parents to choose Catholic Schools. Sr. Mary Paul tells Chicago parents to consider these facts:

VALUES, FAITH AND SERVICE
•The values and faith you teach your children at home are reinforced every day in our schools and in our co-curricular activities
•Through service for others, each student learns the value of being Christ to others and grows in gratitude for their many blessings
ACADEMICS
•With a comprehensive set of curriculum (Pre-Kindergarten – 12 th Grade) that meets all state regulations and guidelines, Catholic schools in Cook and Lake Counties compete with the best schools in the nation
•In 2007, seven of our schools were named No Child Left Behind–Blue Ribbon Schools representing the most from any school system in the nation
•Ninety-six percent of seniors who attend Catholic secondary schools graduate and 95% of those graduates go on to college
TECHNOLOGY
•Most of our schools are equipped with new computers, laptops, interactive white boards, and other cutting-edge technology
•Students are not just taught how to use the latest technology, but they are taught how to use technology as a tool for learning
•The Office of Professional Development in Educational Technology assists our teachers in integrating technology into their curriculum and instructional methods
A CARING, NURTURING, SAFE ENVIRONMENT
•The smaller size of our school communities ensures more personal attention to each student and that each student is known by name
•A disciplined atmosphere enables teachers to focus more time on teaching rather than maintaining order
A GOOD INVESTMENT
•The longer a student remains in an Archdiocese of Chicago Catholic School, the greater his or her achievement
•Our preschool and kindergarten classrooms are not just add-ons or separate programs. They are an integral part of the school community and considered an important part of the learning continuum
•The value of a Catholic education is well worth the cost. It is a life-long investment in your children’s future

Catholic Schools do not under perform.

Hey, House Nitwits! Andy Stern Has a Way to Blow Your Toes Off! Listen Up!

From Huffington Post - The Hollywood Squares Humor Rag!

Andy Stern -SEIU Marxist-in-Chief gives flat-line intellect House Democrat and Republicans - Steps to Real Health Reform!

Step one: The House should pass the Senate's health insurance reform bill - with an agreement that it will be fixed, fixed right, and fixed right away through a parallel process.

There is no Step Two. Waiting . . .Click my Post Title - no kidding.

One Step-because you follow that one and it is all she wrote!

In Ambulation that is called a Hop - like the stuff in Andy's Pipe!

Coming Soon! Sarah Palin – Scott Brown Ticket for 2012?

This will have the Marthas ( President Martha Obama, Martha Emanuel, Martha Axelrod, Martha Dean, Martha Pelosi, Martha Reid, Martha Olbermann, Martha Schultz & etc.)crying in their Mojitas!

Democratic National Committee - The Marthas of America

Everyone is blaming Martha Coakley for the Scott Brown Mass. Kicking of the Democratic National Committee - it is not Mrs. Coakley' Fault. The DNC ( George Soros Productions, General Electric, Hollywood Gueverras, SEIU, ACORN, ACLU Enterprises et. al.) are Martha.

Nationally, my Party, formerly the Democratic Party, has become the Marthas.

Last night, Howard Dean went all Martha on the voters on MSNBC - on MSNBC: “We’ve got to be tougher. I’ve said Democrats haven’t been tough enough…I don’t think this was a backlash on health care reform, I think it was a backlash on Washington.”

Oh, Martha!

The Mass. Kicking Begins!

“It’s like in Roman times, they’d be trotted out to the coliseum and the lions would be brought out,” Patrick Kennedy

Sounds like the Cub of the Lion of the Senate has a problem with them there voting Felines.


More Sissy Kitties, like the pampered Patrick Kennedy, in elected office -Democrat and Republican - might be hearing the rolled up newspapers:

Moderate Democrats have grown increasingly anxious over the past few months, watching nervously as Democratic incumbents in swing districts announced retirements, as one of their own switched parties, as Republicans scored some recruiting coups and as Democrats lost key gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey.

But nothing set the alarms bells ringing quite like Scott Brown's come-from-behind victory over Martha Coakley in Massachusetts — and with it the loss of not just Ted Kennedy's Senate seat but also their party's 60-vote supermajority in the upper chamber.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31699.html#ixzz0d9ovhHoJ
Scott Brown lit up the landscape with the soundest Mass. Kicking of everything wrong in American Political Life - Policy over Common Sense; Taxpayer Bludgeoning over Political Courage; Political Arrogance over Accountability.

This was the most significant election that I can recall. I have met many Scott Brown's and voted for a few - IL. Congressman Marty Russo, IL State Rep. Mary Flowers, Il State Senator Charles Chew, Cook County Sheriff Mike Sheahan, Metro. Water Reclamation District President Terry O'Brien,and Il. State Rep. Kevin Joyce.

These men and a very solid woman were and are elected officials who made and make a difference for people - not Policy Wizards or Editorial Boards.

The National Democratic Party has been enthralled by Academics, Old Time Radicals, Policy Wonks, and News Media Daffodils. Lately, Blogosphere Grassroot-niks have propelled elections behind huge cash pools as well.

Yesterday, voters in the Cradle of Liberty called a halt. The GOP is loaded with mopes as goofy and as gutless as endless parade of elected simpletons ( Weiner, Franks, Kirk, Schakowsky et. al. )that viewers will catch on MSNB, CNN and Fox cable at any time of the day. Here in Illinois, the GOP is almost a Democratic chameleon.

Congressman Mark Kirk,for example, is trying to run as Scott Brown - "I'm Naval Reserve; He's Army Reserve . . .and Yada, Yada!" However, Scott Brown did not and would not vote for the Waxman Markey Cap and Trade Bill!

The Mass. Kicking is Bi-Partisan! Let Mass. Kicking Continue Unchecked until the mopes who want our vote develop - Common Sense. Fill the Potholes! Spend Tax Dollars with Care! Protect our Country from Enemies -Foreign and Domestic!

Terry O'Brien and Supreme Court Defeat Eco-Fascists! SCOTUS Slaps Sierra Club Chicken Little-ers!

Terry O'Brien, as steward of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD), refused to listen to the Carp-ing of the Sierra Club and the Enviro -Nazis* who have chorused up to close the locks on the greatest engineering miracle in history.

Since 2006, Terry O'Brien and the MWRD has been saddled with Debra Shore. Mistress Shore generally seems to ignore the mission of the District and hobbies with Environmental Theology - which passes for "isn't she smart?" in Progressive Circles.

Debra Shore wants the course of the Chicago River reversed. You see human beings did not want cholera due to filthy water and waste and embarked upon the greatest engineering miracle in American History - reversing the flow of the Chicago River. Environmental Fascists hate anything that man has wrought. They don't have a hell of a lot of concern for what God has wrought, but that is another issue.


Debra Shore is the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District's resident goofball. Debra Shore questions the right of helots in the Greater Chicago District to have showers, flush toilets, and drink clean treated water much less operate barges or enjoy boating. For months Mistress Shore has placed poop-friendly passages of Green Theology on the pages of the laughable Huffington Post. Those delightful droppings of Enviro Fascist Theology argued that treating Chicago's drinking water was a shame.

In June of 2009, Mistress Shore offered this redaction of Enviro Theologian Thomas Berry who believed that earth is good and people are very, very, very bad -

The central challenge that (Thomas) Berry poses -- the "Great Work" remaining for us to do -- is to move from anthropocentrism to ecocentrism. In other words, to move from a world in which man dominates the Earth and natural resources exist primarily for us to use or abuse to a new paradigm of an Earth community in which we exist as stewards and caring kin with the rest of nature. Ecocentrism -- putting the Earth first -- recognizes that we are mutually dependent with all life systems on this home planet. Berry's vision was to establish "a new reciprocity of humans with the Earth and of humans with one another."

That, of course, was not the predominant ethic in 1889, when people treated rivers as places to dump our fecal matter. We did not view rivers and streams as living ecosystems worthy of our care. The principles of Berry's new Ecozoic Era are such that "any valid Progress must be progress of the entire life community, not progress of the human at the expense of the non-human members of the community."

I have been mulling over this question, What do we owe the river? The Chicago River -- manipulated, channelized, reconfigured -- has been called the artery running through the heart of the city. Do we have the vision, the will and the wherewithal to clean up this urban working river, making it safer for recreation, healthier and more beautiful? have been mulling over this question, What do we owe the river? The Chicago River -- manipulated, channelized, reconfigured -- has been called the artery running through the heart of the city. Do we have the vision, the will and the wherewithal to clean up this urban working river, making it safer for recreation, healthier and more beautiful?

This is not a simple question. And yet, are we not diminished as a people if we continue to treat our water as a waste product and our rivers as garbage dumps? Now we try to make amends. We are removing dams to encourage fish survival; reintroducing fire to enhance prairie habitat; re-seeding and restoring and engendering humility.

Those of us who have access to water from the Great Lakes -- through the accident of birth or the exercise of volition -- are enormously lucky we live near one of the world's great natural resources. As such, it is incumbent upon us to demonstrate wise stewardship of this precious, irreplaceable liquid asset, our fresh water. What, then, is our shared responsibility to the lake and to the river? Can we craft a future that meets human needs for an adequate supply of freshwater and those of the rest of nature? Can we demonstrate the restraint, respect and, yes, love, necessary to provide for the Hine's emerald dragonfly, as well as Mr. and Mrs. Hines and their offspring?

Mistres Shore's Eco Theology musings were hip-checked into the boards by the Asian Carp Invasion which needed no Theology.

CLOSE THE LOCKS!!! Environmental Foundations with boards of directors peopled by construction company CEO's, joined hands with Sierra Club Soul-Patched Loudmouths and the Attorney General of Michigan seeking a political dodge and petitioned the Supreme Court to CLOSE THE LOCKS AND SAVE THE EARTH!

Terry O'Brien, President of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District refused to be gulled let alone bullied by the Birkenstock Shod Activists and Corporate Opportunists.

The United States Supreme Court slapped down the idiotic suit.

WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court refused Tuesday to order the closing of parts of a key Midwest waterway system to prevent Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes.

The court rejected a request by the state of Michigan for an injunction closing two navigation locks in the Chicago area, which the state said was necessary to protect the Great Lakes' $7 billion fishing and tourism industries from the carp threat.

(Click Post Title for full article)

Terry O'Brien is running for President of Cook County Board. Terry O'Brien as President of MWRD has saved Cook County taxpayers millions of dollars, because he listens to civil engineers who know about water management and water treatment.

Our Metropolitan Water Reclamation District is largely in very good hands - Debra shore notwithstanding.

Debra Shore will be around for more laughs.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/debra-shore/the-audacity-of-slope-or_b_218224.html

* ECO- Fascism:

Spokesmen for such groups as the Society for Conservation Biology, The Wilderness Society, Defenders of Wildlife, and even members of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service offer support for the general idea of the Wilderness Project. Peter Brussard from the University of Nevada at Reno believes that the Project "certainly is justifiable scientifically." Luckily, not all biologists accept that position; Deborah Jensen, a biologist with The Nature Conservancy, does not believe that the goal of conserving biodiversity requires such an approach as the Wilderness Project.

Yet even if those touting the Wilderness Project do not believe it possible to create such a massive preserve in one fell swoop, they may yet achieve their final goal piecemeal. Efforts are currently underway to set aside 139,000 square miles in the Great Plains for a buffalo sanctuary; the Paseo Pantera project seeks to connect wilderness areas in Central America; British Columbia is linking a new 4000 square mile park with Alaska and the Yukon Territory to create a 33,000 square mile preserve; Congress is considering setting aside 11,000 square miles in California; the Nevada Biodiversity Project seeks to set aside hundreds of square miles of mountains; and Noss recently received $150,000 from the Pew Charitable Funds to further planning for wildlands set-asides.

In response to this proposal, some people were rightfully outraged.*2 One woman from Nevada said that, "Proponents of the project are incredibly insensitive to the values, freedoms, and property rights of the many millions of people who live in and love" these lands. She characterized these ecologists as "an arrogant urban elite with a compulsion to live out their fantasy at our expense" (italics in original) -- which is a remarkably accurate description of statists of any stripe.

Another man from Arizona stated that this idea "illustrates all the absurd flaws in the ecocentric mind --...that balanced ecosystems don't include humans, (and) that government coercion can override human nature." Absurd, yes...but no more so than might describe the mind-sets of Marx or Lenin. Unfortunately, the "absurd flaws" of their political system did not prevent them from imposing it across a significant fraction of the globe over a seventy year time span. The idea of the Wilderness Project is still relatively new and controversial, yet its supporters may become powerful beyond any rational expectations.

Some of those advocates believe it is important to "halt the spread of nature's most dangerous predator and competitor"; that such lands should be cared for by people "who wish to restore themselves to a natural (i.e., tribal) state"; that "27 representatives" and "over 50 scientists also support the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act."

http://home.earthlink.net/~rdmadden/webdocs/Eco-Fascism.html